he will be greatly missed. i'm antonio mora, thanks for joining us. for the latest news any time head to aljazeera.com. "inside story" is up next. have a great weekend. hello, i'm ray suarez. as of this week about if i lit up a joint, right here right now, i wouldn't be breaking the drug laws just breaking the rules about smoking in this building. it's legal to smoke marijuana recreationally in the nation's capital. you can't any marijuana here or sell it. how is that going to work? how did they make the rules. d.c.'s mayor was threatened with gaol before the new law went

into effect, and she didn't break down. it's an example of a recurring powerplay. you may not know it. d.c. voters and officials don't really make the laws here congress does. washington d.c.'s attorney-general will help us sort it out in a minute. join me in studio as a symbol in the national debate on pot. this is huge. no bogating, it's "inside story". at 12:01:00a.m. thursday spoking marijuana became legal in the district of columbia after more than 70% of voters approved a ballot measure to make pot legal for recreational youse. marijuana is a substance akin to alcohol. after your 21st birthday you can possess two ounces or less

grow up to six marijuana plants in your home no more than three of which are mature. you can transfer one ounce or less to another person as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged. when you consume marge are, you must be an -- marijuana, you must be an private property it's not legal to consume more than 2 ounces smoke or consume in a public space, sell any amount or operate a vehiclear boat under the influence. seeing the citizens of washington d.c. do not have voting laws they do not have a voice. representative jason chavitz chairs the house committee overseeing the district of columbia suggesting that city officials could be gaoled for letting the law take effect. >> i have a lot of things to go

in the district of columbia me being in gaol would not be good. >> no one expected the mayor to be sent to gaol for charged with a crime, but it underlines the tension between the capital city and the congress. i'm joined by carl resine an attorney-general of the district of columbia. welcome to "inside story". . >> it's a pleasure to be here on behalf of the citizens. >> in the run up to recreational legalization. they worked hard in colorado to build a fortress of legal limits, laws regulations on the sale and cultivation and possession where the money would go, of really fearsome legal regime, as far as i can tell none of that was done here. does that make your jobs as the guy who enforces the laws easier or harder? >> well let me give a little background on why it is that strict regime or regulatory

regime of real logic and commonsense was not implemented in washington d.c. as you know the voters of the district of columbia voted for limited legalization of norming. you explained the limits -- of ma'amming r, you splaimed it -- alycia number ofajorkiewicz, you explained it well. it's not as if folks can go out on the streets. the counsel of district of columbia and our mayor are responsible leaders, wanting to regulate marijuana like colorado, and the state of washington. unfortunately the congress which has supervisory authority over the district of columbia precluded us doing that. that's why we do not have a strict and really informative regulatory regime. by creating a law where

cultivation is basically all home cultivation, and there's no retail sales, don't you, in law enforcement terms, almost surrender oversight, regulation. it's hard to see what is king on in people's basements and homes. >> it is difficult, as it should be. the government should stay out of people's homes and bases, absent an arrest warrant. the reality is that what we are doing is all we can do for the citizens who passed the limited legalization bill and what we are trying to do is respect the will of the people. there may be a time i hope it's soon, where we are able to follow the laws of colorado and washington, and the guidance that the states impose where we have the ability to boy and do other things right now that we cannot do. >> if you put in a legal architecture like the ones in the other states that is - that

would have been the moment for congress to pounce because it would have involved taxation and revenue, and the regulation of retail sales? >> it's a great question. congress passed the on the bus spending bill a restriction. we believe the restriction allowed us to go ahead and legalize marijuana. the restriction on the ryder precluded the district of columbia to go ahead and have reasonable regulations, that is why we are where we are, not full regulation, but partial, and that's why we are out there, the mayor is doing a great job, and the council preaching to folks the limited nature of the rules and trying as best we can to keep the good honest law-abiding citizens in conformance with the law. >> the 21-year-old age requirement. does that make marijuana like alcohol. is it tougher and bound in a

legal sense than alcohol? >> there was a fundamental subject that mahmoud ahmadinejad, a substance like alcohol can alter preparations. that is why we did not want to have minors have access to legally engage in marijuana. so in a reel way the regulatory regime that we are seeking to impose is commonsense, practical sense, it's what reasonable governments do that is what the adam may, and the council want to do. >> it's tough keeping booze out of the hands of 19-year-olds. will it be tough keeping joints out of their hands as well? >> there's no doubt about that. there are vagaries difficulties in enforce. . i think that you know where there's a law, there are law breakers, and that is draw report to marijuana, alcohol, and with any restriction. >> did you coordinate with the police chief? is there a new approach, a new

vigilance, a new care taken to look for just those kinds of violations. speaking as a parent in the district of columbia i wonder, and i worry about that kind of thing. after all, 18 and 19-year-olds, who do they hang out with it's not unusual to have friend who are 21 and 22. >> that is right. and certainly the police chief is popular and effective. was concern the about law enforce. and training police officers to know when to approach a potential law breaker and when not to do that. i believe the police chief did an extraordinary job, and the police officers are well practised and will try to make sure that enforcement occurs below the line of the age of 21 one. early flares sent up in

colorado, was that police chief said "we have to way of knowing if someone is driving under the influence, we can give a breathalyser and no if they've been drinking there's no way to test the t.h.c. in their blood." is this tough for you is this. >> the reality is the question is difficult. nonetheless the police are well trained. the courts are well trained. driving upped the influence rears evidence beyond just that of a blood test or other type of scientific example. you have to demonstrate based on a multitude of factors that indeed, a driver in this case was driving under the influence of a substance. >> there are in a city this big, and a city with a day-time population larger than the resident population thousands, hundreds of thousands of transactions face to face contacts encounters. when you put into law you can't

sell something, and when you sell it it has to be less than an ounce, when you transfer it it has to be less than an ounce, how do you police it enforce it? >> the fact is police do hard work every day and have to make the fine line distinctions it's a matter of training and discretion. what you are seeing around the country and from the police department here are folks practised and ready to exercise discretion. i think we'll work out the kinks. there's no doubt we'll be better off if we were able to do what the state of colorado and washington have done, and that is regulate it in a responsible way carl res een is the direct attorney of the district of columbia thanks for joining us on "inside story". next, some say alcohol and

tobacco are plenty. why add pot to the mix of dangerous and harmful - though legal - recreational drugs. the arguments for and against permitting pot. and the optics of beginning the age of weed in america's capital cities. stay with us, it's "inside story". we're not quite sure... >> fault lines al jazeera america's award winning, investigative series... on al jazeera america

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sunday, 5:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. cl ja welcome back to inside story on al jazeera, i'm ray suarez, we are looking at the legalization of recreational marijuana in the nation's capital. unlike laws in colorado and washington state, the washington d.c. marijuana law doesn't build in a serious legal architecture around the production and sale of the cannabis plant. there are some limits hard to police on private production and prohibitions on sale. it's a different approach to legalization from that elsewhere. i'm joined for the rest of the programme from two men who find themselves on different sides to the marijuana debate. leading up to the debate when residents of columbia voted

60-30. doctor, from the drug policy alliance, working for the passage of 71. and will jones, a movement against marijuana legalization. if d.c. had been able to go the way of colorado and washington, would it have been better for your cause if part of the art argument, is that we as a society can safely introduce these laws? >> absolutely. i think largely they are arguments we articulated in the campaign, that it's a responsible public policy to establish regulations and control the supply of marijuana, this is how you prevent access to youth, how you ensure that the marijuana is safe for consumption, and ultimately it's a way to diminish the public outcry and the negative impact that some who may not necessarily be in favour of

marijuana may experience. >> here we are with a less rigorous law, can you prove your point? >> absolutely, the major point is putting an end to the overwhelmingly bias enforcement of marijuana in the district. as you are aware. the district of columbia has the dubious description of having the highest arrest rate in the nation. you are eight times more likely as an african-american to be arrested for marijuana possession if the nation's capital. with initiative 71 we framed the issue around putting an end to that prohibition, the enforcement of marijuana arrest. an end to the ticketing occurring in ward 7 and 8, east of the anna costlia river where a large number of minorities live. marijuana prohibition stopped the disproportionate enforcement of laws and the community is impacted by that. >> will jones, if you think

smoking marijuana is a bad idea and it's clear you do is that lifting the heavy police presence off the backs of young men worth it. >> we told people d.c. had loose marijuana laws. we had decriminalized marijuana, we had provisions for medical marijuana, and dc allowed for records to be frozens for past marijuana use. it was framed in the incarceration issue, but it is a frame. arrests were not being taken place because decriminalization passed. what we are looking at is a push for the sale commercialisation in d.c. and that is of huge concern to me. >> what is your fall back position. not only did you lose - you lost by a lot. there's no a single voting

district in the city - actually there's one voting distribute in the city that voted against initiative 71. if you want to stay on the argument. in the discussion, what do you say to the city now that the law is here and people are lighting up. >> now it's crystal clear what the contention is, that at the end of the day it's about money and commercialisation of marijuana, if it's here ending here it's not the end of the world, and not the biggest concern to us that people are doing that in their own home. what is of huge concern is the marijuana industry will come to d.c., and the country tried to introduce bills allowing for the sale of marijuana in d.c. that was the drastic increase in adult and youth users which is a huge concern. >> he's right about that. d.c. is not another city of

640,000 people. it's symbolic if it's league at to smoke cannabis here. >> that's correct. what you see is there's a changing political tide in the country at this point in time. 52% of american support ending marijuana problem hickition. the congress voted to end marijuana prohibition, in favour of ending medical marijuana. 88% of people in the country want access to medical marijuana, you have 24 states with access to medical marijuana, and there's a growing list chosing too completely. the writing is on the wall and the people like mr jones, continue to advocate. >> what can you go to lessen the social consequences of this law? >> i want to go back to something that the doctor said

about being on the losing side of this. >> according to statistics, the gallop poll showed that favourite nationally for legalization dropped from 58% to 52%. colorado has bipartisan condemnation of the legalization there. the democratic governor said it was reckless and the newly appointed republican general is glad that the state is being sued, because it's been an issue. also a majority of voters in colorado no longer support legalization today. the place that tried it has regretted that that is really a message that we are trying to spread, that this is not inevitable. national support is falling, colorado turned against that and this is not something we need to do in d.c. and have the

resulting consequences from legalize eggs and commercialisation -- legalization and commercialisation. >> one of the things that colorado is sued over is the bordering states saying we didn't vote for this or choose this, but now we have mahmoud ahmadinejad, because our citizens can go to colorado. if that is true in colorado it's true with steroids in washington, where you can cross a street western avenue and walk in from maryland to the district of columbia. is this automatically an issue for maryland and virmg whether they -- virginia whether they want is to be or not. >> it's interesting, what comes from a piece of legislation to legalize marijuana. maryland has a decriminalization law, if we set up an infrastructure where are for taxation of marijuana, maryland resident could come into the district, take to maryland

within the conphones of mare and -- confines of maryland and district law. virginia passed a bill allowing for individuals with epilepsy to gain marijuana oil. you are soing a lot of legs -- seeing a lot of legislative changes, and ultimately those dinses in legislation with solve themselves over time. i want to point out one quick thing on the nebraska lawsuit against colorado what you are seeing there, why you see an uptick in marijuana, is the reality of the situation is that people in nebraska want marijuana - want access to marijuana, so the nuisance if you will is that the government of nebraska and wyoming have agreed. we'll be back with more "inside story" in a moment. when we return what success looks look, now that the law is on the books, if you support it or if you don't - how an urban,

dense, diverse and poor jurisdiction copes with a new legal psychoactive substance. and whether we just turned the corner in national debate over marge, if you can light up in view the capital dome. stay with us it's "inside story."

welcome back to "inside story" on al jazeera. i'm swor r -- ray suarez i'm sitting in a studio talking about the allowance of recreational use of marijuana. in the early hours it was legal to smoke marijuana, a drug that occasioned the arrest and gaoling of thousands in washington over the years. the district of columbia follows colorado washington state and alaska and allowing recreational use. the legal ability to mistake will be limited to people over 21. you will not be able to buy or sell marijuana, people can give

it to each other. my guests are with me. will johns, will people grow six plants and no more? >> probably not. some people definitely will. probably not. >> is there an enforceable law? >> it will be difficult to enforce this law, definitely. >> what is the messaging that is going to go out from people on your side of the debate now that the law is here? can you still speak to the district? will you have a channel to speak to young people especially about marijuana. >> yes, and more so because now people that felt their liberties were infringed upon because they were not allowed to spoke or grow it. you can do that. the debate can be about should we have commercialized marijuana, next on the agenda for d.c. no, we can't afford that.

136,000 use alcohol, 6 million using cigarettes. what is concerning is the reports are that students admit to using alcohol and 70% of smokers start at the age of 18 and younger. when the industry comes in, we'll see an agrees in young users, not 13, 14-year-olds, but 17, 18, 1920-year-olds. that is where the revenue will come from for the commercial industry. the alcohol industry gets about 80% of its revenue from less than 20% of users, the heavy users and addict. we can't afford to see that. >> is he right. every time a sophomore asks a senior to get him a joint, does that person undermine your argument? >> largely this is a reefer

madsness, the emergence of a big marijuana industry. the argument exists in a vacuum. what we have seen over the past 20 years, as it relates to tobacco is a decrease in the number of users of gianna tobani much we have learnt a lot of lessons from mistake in the alcohol and gianna tobani industry, and largely they will not be repeated in the marijuana industry. there's a large number of people entering the space around the issues of social justice, and we see that we ultimately can create responsible regulations around this. >> i'll try again. seems like you are dancing around the fact that there's problem drinking among 18-19-year-olds. >> i'm not articling suing that there isn't. i'm saying there's a way to implement effective public health. i do a lot of public health work. a way to implement public health policies that can educate and talk about responsible use.

the fact of the matter remains that when you espouse policies that stifles conversation you can't talk about what responsible use of marijuana looks like or educate kids of what the danger of overconsumption of marijuana are if you tell them know. if you open up and have an honest dialogue you can educate kids and prevent abuse and over use of marijuana. >> as will jones point out, haven't we just thrown another item on the back of the truck. another thing that you have to watch out for among older teens. >> let's be frank here. the dirty little secret is that marijuana is in our society whether we decide to effectively supply the control or not. teens have action to marijuana -- access to marijuana, teens are reporting that marijuana is more difficult to use. why is that for example? largely because we established a

regulatory regime that requires young adults to present an idea that makes them 21. >> we didn't pass a law like that in the district of columbia. >> that's not the district but columbia's faultment we'll find a way to navigate that. >> doctor will jones, thank you for beak with me on "inside story". that's all for this edition of the programme. we want you to talk back to the television, visit our facebook page, give us feedback on ha you do on the programme. follow us on twitter. the hand is avinsidestoryahm or follow me and get in touch at raysuareznews. i'm ray suarez.

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